1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) system, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for effectively receiving a contents list according to source and renderer positions in a DLNA system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Home network technology provides a future-oriented home environment in which anyone can receive various high-quality home services when all information appliances in the home are connected to a wired/wireless network, irrespective of place and time. Because this home network technology is regarded as the underlying enabling technology of an ubiquitous environment and is the key technology, research is on-going into ways to improve performance while maintaining quality and scope of services.
One organization whose objectives include improving home network technology is the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), a standardization organization for home network technology. The DLNA solves compatibility problems encountered in commercializing home network products by serving as a standardization organization. The DLNA was created as a result of efforts of an existing Digital Home Working Group (DHWG) created by Microsoft, IBM, HP, Intel, Sony, Matsushita, Samsung Electronics, and others on June 2003.
The DLNA defines a Personal Computer (PC) Internet network (of a PC, printer, etc.), a mobile network (of a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), mobile phone, notebook computer, etc.), and an appliance network (of a Television (TV), audio, Digital Video Disc (DVD) player, etc.) as networks coexisting in the home. Moreover, the DLNA has attempted to provide interoperability through three schemes based on cooperation between leading industrial companies, standardization of an interoperability framework, products conforming thereto, and so on.
Specifically, the technology considered by the DLNA is to obtain, transmit, and manage a plurality of digital media contents (e.g., images, music, video, etc.) from personal devices such as mobile devices, PCs, etc. for consumers. That is, the DLNA technology allows media contents to be conveniently enjoyed on a home device, irrespective of the position and the type of device in the home.
For this, the DLNA is developing standards for physical media, network transmission, media formats, streaming protocols, Digital Right Management (DRM), among others on the basis of Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology.
Next, the DLNA will be described in detail. First, a network connection in the DLNA is based on Internet Protocol (IP). The IP is the basic network communication protocol for a device operating on the Internet. Through the IP, information can be transparently exchanged by instances of an application program executing on various media.
For example, a PC or Set-Top Box (STB) can wirelessly transmit media contents to a TV of the home through an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 Access Point (AP) connected to an Ethernet cable. Accordingly, all DLNA devices can communicate with other devices connected to the Internet through the IP, anywhere in the world.
A physical layer of the DLNA uses at least one of a wired high-speed Ethernet (802.11u) and a wireless Ethernet (802.11a/b/g). The stability of the wired Ethernet has been already verified. The wireless Ethernet has adopted Wi-Fi to accommodate the increase of wireless home network communication.
The technology for discovering and controlling a device within a DLNA network is based on the existing UPnP Audio Video (AV) architecture and the existing UPnP device architecture to automatically configure a networking setup for an IP address and identify and manage other devices. Similarly, the technology for discovering and controlling a service within a DLNA network is also based on the existing UPnP AV architecture and the existing UPnP device architecture
In the above-described DLNA, device classes are divided into a Digital Media Server (DMS) and a Digital Media Player (DMP). The DMS performs a function of a Media Server Device (MSD), i.e., a function of a server for providing media in the UPnP AV spec, and the DMP performs functions of a Media Renderer Device (MRD) and a Media Renderer Control Point (MRCP), i.e., functions for selecting, controlling, and playing media.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a conventional DLNA system to which the present invention is applied. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the DLNA system comprises a DMS 13 for providing multimedia contents and a Mobile DMP (M-DMP) 11 for executing the provided multimedia contents. The M-DMP 11 conventionally includes wired and wireless DMPs. The M-DMP 11 is preferably wireless, but the present invention includes a wired DMP. A Mobile-Network Connection Function (M-NCF) 12 is used as an intermediate node for connecting the M-DMP 11 and the DMS 13.
Currently, a communication protocol for a connection between the M-DMP 11 and the M-NCF 12 uses both Bluetooth and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). According to the technology development of a wireless network, there can be used Zigbee and a Personal Area Network (PAN) corresponding to a local-area personal communication network defined on the basis of a personal life style. In comparison with Bluetooth, Zigbee is the typical wireless sensor network technology with lower power, lower cost, and more ease of use. Zigbee has a high-level protocol and application based on a PHY/MAC layer standardized in the IEEE 802.15.4-2003 standard.
FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an example of a user interface in the conventional DLNA system. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, a DMP displays all associated contents within the DLNA system in the thumbnail format in order to output some contents within the DLNA system. In a menu configuration as illustrated in FIG. 2B, a selection is made of at least one of a content selected from the group consisting of a device to output multimedia contents selected through a sub-menu, a device to receive copied contents, a device to transmit an image, etc.
When the conventional user interface is used, the DMP performs many steps in order to execute a desired function.
For example, the DMP can select a home network device (e.g., a TV, STB, audio, digital camera, PC, etc.) in which particular contents are present, select desired contents from various types of contents files (e.g., mpg, jpg, and mp3), select another home network device for realizing a desired function (e.g., play, copy, etc.) for the selected contents, and execute the desired function.
In this case, the DLNA system must perform many steps to accomplish a multimedia output task desired by a user (because many pages must be turned and cannot be easily displayed on one screen according to existing User Interface (UI) configurations). For this reason, the user is significantly inconvenienced.
When particular contents are selected by a user, selection of the desired contents is time-consuming because a PC supports various content types as well as supports a plurality of contents. Furthermore, the user does not always know information about which device can support a certain content type.
The user must perform many steps in order to determine which device can support a desired function (e.g., play, view, copy, etc.). Because existing UIs are implemented with many pages, the user is inconvenienced.